


Set up for Countdown

by youdidwinsodidi



Category: Rizzoli & Isles
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-17
Updated: 2017-03-01
Packaged: 2018-09-18 05:06:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9369260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youdidwinsodidi/pseuds/youdidwinsodidi
Summary: "Guys, you can't just- you can't!" Jane yelled. "Just at least tell me how serious it is!" A story following Detective Jane Rizzoli & Medical Examiner Dr. Maura Isles in their search to find an untraceable killer. Join them on a path of betrayal, deception, romance and leads that make no sense. Can they figure out what's going on? Picks up after S04 finale. Slowburn Rizzles.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No characters of Castle are present in this story. Only Rizzoli & Isles.
> 
> So, I used to have this explanation up but I deleted it but here it is again:  
> I love writing, but the problem is that English is my 4th language. I'm aware what my flaws are: character development and descriptions.  
> When I saw this Castle episode 3 years ago, the only thing I could was how Rizzles it was.  
> I used the script for the Castle episode S03E16 Setup & SE03S17 Countdown because three years ago that is what I felt like I could only do. When you get to the later chapters, you will see it starts derailing from the episodes.  
> My skills weren't good enough to turn it into an original story, but I am working on one right now.  
> Three years ago I decided to start this fanfiction just to be able to practice on my descriptions.  
> Trust me that I'm aware that it's lazy and all other things that original writers aren't, but by doing this back then - I improved so much.  
> During the time I was on hiatus, I wrote lots of stuff. Not multichaptered, that's why it's not on here.  
> But doing so really helped me.  
> I'm sorry if it offends you that I do this, that was never my intention.

 

 

Jane Rizzoli awoke abruptly when the ringing of her cellphone disturbed her peaceful slumber. She ran her fingers slowly through her raven-black curls and then proceeded to pat her bed trying to find her cellphone. When her fingertips found the object, she grasped it and slowly brought it to her ear, stifling a yawn with her other hand.

"Rizzoli?"

She muttered, her voice still hoarse from her deep sleep. Jane had been ill with a cold; it was fall and she had forgotten to close her window when she had fallen asleep on the couch. When she had awakened, the rain had caught her and so had the cold breeze.

Her best friend had fussed over her the next day, trying to get her to take a day off to make sure that she was alright, but Jane wasn't having any of it. Surely a little cold wouldn't get in the way of solving crimes, would it? She had waved Maura's concerns off with a smile and a cup of hot coffee. But awakening now, Jane was slowly regretting not having listened to Maura – because, fuck, it felt like hell had teleported itself into her head.

"Korsak has been trying to reach you for hours, Jane! Where have you been?"

"Maura," she groaned. "Calm down, I slept through your 2000 other calls – I'm sorry, I would almost think that somebody died."

"As a matter of fact, yes, there is a case. Why else would I be calling you at 4 AM?"

Jane smirked lightly at the doctor's response, imagining the puzzled look on her face. After all those years, she still would sometimes have these silly moments where she wasn't catching onto Jane's sarcastic comments, much to Jane's amusement.

"It was sarcasm, Maura. " She laughed. "Sarcasm."

She had now pushed herself off the bed and was heading towards the bathroom. Looking into the mirror, she scrunched her face and ran another hand through her hair.

"Oh. Well. Alright – I texted you the address. Hurry up Jane," There was a small pause. "Oh, and bring some coffee."

"Maybe," Jane laughed to herself. "I'll get there as fast as I can."

* * *

 

Jane arrived at the crime scene about twenty minutes later, a coffee in each hand. Maura, wearing her blue cocktail dress, quickly noticed her appearance and stepped over towards her, honey blonde curls bouncing against her cheeks, her hazel eyes looking rather exhausted. They greeted each other with small smiles and Maura took the second coffee out of Jane's hands. Slowly sipping on the hot coffee, she closed her eyes and she let the liquid pass through her throat.

"I needed this," She sighed. "I haven't slept since yesterday. I was about to return to my house when they called me." She turned around to face Jane, her face tilted slowly to the side, the concern visible on her features. "What about you? Are you feeling any better?"

Jane shrugged lightly, drinking from her own coffee. She gestured with her hand to indicate that they were going to move towards the body. "Can't complain," she grunted. "Surely felt better before though." They approached the body with fast steps, passing by a yellow cab without wheels. The cab had been stripped, and all that was left of it was standing on 4 stone blocks. The area surrounding the cab seemed to be deserted too. The building around them seemed to be uninhabited, and it looked like nobody has lived there for about 10 years. Jane eyed the cab quickly and frowned slightly.

"What's with the stripped cab?" She asked once she arrived near the body. Her team was already hovering over the victim. Korsak was talking with somebody on their team, demanding them to check out the cab and look around for stolen car parts.

"Security guard wondered the same thing," Frost replied, smile plastered on his face. "That's when he found the body."

"Who is our victim?" Jane asked, her head slightly tilted to the side to take a better look at the dead man in front of her. The features of the man revealed that he was Asian and couldn't be much older than thirty years old. His white hoodie was bloody because of the shot in his chest. Her eyes trailed down his body. Fair build, not skinny but not fat either.

"Bai Lee," Frost answered her, kneeling down beside the victim. "Taxi driver. We didn't find any money on the body or on the cab."

Jane nodded at the given information, shifting her weight that was leaning on her one leg to the other, her brain processing. "Then everything points to him being popped for cash and car parts."

"Not everything Janey." Maura replied absently. She was also kneeled down, next to the victim, writing things down on her clipboard.

Upon hearing the term of endearment, Jane straightened herself. There was surprise plastered all over her face as she looked over to Korsak, who started laughing. Frost moved towards them and halted next to them.

"Did she just call you Janey?" he whispered, mock noticeable in his words. He gave the medical examiner a quick pat on the shoulder causing Maura to get up and turn around to face the three detectives.

"What?" She asked, oblivious to the whole situation. Korsak and Frost burst out in laughter once again.

"Nothing, Maura," Jane answered, soft smile playing on her lips. "They're just a bunch of kids, ignore them. You said you found something unusual?"

"Not at first," she said – moving around towards the right side of the body. "Time of death fits a robbery. He was killed at 11:15."

"So precise!" Frost commented enthusiastic. "I'm impressed, Doctor Isles!"

"His watch broke when he fell." Jane replied, her eyes rolling slowly, moving over to where Maura was standing and she gave her a knowing look.

"You shouldn't have told him that," Korsak laughed. "Let him be impressed like the little boy he is!"

"Hey!" Frost whined, pouting lightly.

Maura gave them a quick look, slight annoyance in her eyes and then turned back to look at the body again.

"Cause of death seems to fit too. Looks like it was a 9mm to the head, but I can't confirm until I do the autopsy. But there is something that doesn't fit. His fingers were broken one at a time. Though, it's known that cabbies often hide their money; maybe they tortured him to tell them where the money was?" She tilted her head to look at Jane, who was inspecting the bullet hole.

"Yeah, could be." Jane nodded, giving Maura a soft smile before turning around to Korsak and Frost. "Alright, let's find out where he was driving and who he picked up before he wound up here."

"Got it." Frost answered.

"Jane," Maura said after everyone started heading towards their car. "I'll come up to give you the autopsy reports as quickly as possible. You should think about heading home after I bring them to you – you still don't look healthy."

"I'll be fine, let's solve this case and then I can sleep for days."

* * *

 

"Bai Lee," Frost stated. He was sitting down at his desk and had pulled up the information about the victim. "A real immigrant success story. Came over from China seven years ago, became a citizen last June. According to the taxi and limo commission, he owned his cab and medallion with a cousin, Xiu Yu."

Jane nodded as her phone started buzzing, a new text message arriving from Casey who was currently back in Afghanistan. She had been avoiding his text messages ever since he had decided to go back to the army to take the General job.

"Uh," she tried to regain her focus. "Right. Well, Doesn't TLC know where Bai was? Don't they like, track their cabs?"

"Only when the meter is running," Korsak nodded. "Bai shut his off at 10:02 PM."

"So there's no way to know where he went before he died," muttered Jane. "Fantastic."

"Actually there is!" Frost replied, smile on his face as Jane snapped her head towards him. "Bai subscribed to a GPS tracking service. It helps cabbies map out the best place to troll for fares, stuff like that. Anyway, after Bai shut off his meter, he drove up to Jackson Square T. He parked in the 1600 block of St. Nicholas Avenue for six minutes, motor running, and then he drove to the warehouse."

Jane frowned lightly, trying to make sense of the information. She tossed her mobile phone onto her desk out of irritation. Resting her head on her arm that she was using to lean on the desk, she closed her eyes. She just wanted to go home and sleep, so she could forget about the fact that Casey wants her to marry him and move with her to Afghanistan. If only it was so easy.

"What was he doing there?" She groaned. "Jackson Square T is a shady place that time of night. And he turned his meter off which means he wasn't looking for a fare."

"Maybe he was carjacked and forced to drive to that warehouse?" Korsak offered. Jane nodded several times after each other in agreement, pointing her finger at the screen. "Aright, have Unis canvass the area. See if anyone remembers seeing him. What about his last phone call, Frost?"

Frost nodded and started typing in some things on the computer in front of him and quickly pulled up the needed information.

"10:01, to his wife, Sie Lee. He also opened a notebook application and wrote this, written an hour before he died." He pulled up an image on the bigger screen so everybody could see it. He then continued "S4121652, I tried to check if it was license plate – but no."

"I think I got it," Jane answered after a few moments of silence. "Seven digits, it's a phone number. S is the initial of the person who it belongs to."

"I'll try that," Frost replied and started typing on the computer. "Nothing, with all the Boston codes. Hm," he leaned back against his chair. "Intriguing."

"Very," Jane said sarcastically and then grabbed her blazer. "Come on, Korsak, Let's go check out the wife. Frost, you keep trying to find the annotation."

* * *

 

Jane was quiet during the car ride, eyeing her phone occasionally. It had buzzed again, Casey demanding her attention once more. He wanted an explanation as to why Jane was ignoring him; why she wasn't responding to his e-mails – and most likely, what her answer was to his marriage proposal.

Truthfully, she herself didn't even know. Yes, she wanted to marry Casey because it was just so simple. But she refused to give up everything for him. Her job, her family, her friends – he couldn't just ask her to do that.

When she had discovered that she might be pregnant, she thought her world was crumbling down. She could see the way she'll agree to marry him for the sake of the baby, he would have to retire – she would have to quit her job, and they'd both be angry the whole time. Eventually, he would start drinking and then leave her.

But loving him right now was so simple. He wasn't there most of the times but like Maura pointed out, it's not normal to love someone more when they leave you than when they are with you. And as much as she wanted to, she couldn't forget the little things she couldn't stand. He was too domestic, too fast. She just wasn't ready for this. Right?

Or maybe she was just doubting the fact she really loved him. Maybe it was because she was growing desperate to find love, because she was scared of being alone forever. Perhaps she was scared of proving everybody right that she really was unable to love someone.

Maura had disagreed when she had voiced this fear to her. Maura had said that she would never be alone and that maybe Jane herself was blind to see all the people that cared about her, and that she cared about. She told Jane that she was forgetting how loyal she is. The same loyalty being her disadvantage in this situation.

She sighed as the car came to a halt in front of the house.

"You okay?" Korsak asked, genuine concern resting on his features. "Yeah," Jane nodded. "Let's do this."

* * *

 

"Mrs. Lee," Jane began with a soft voice. "We understand that Bai called you at ten. What did the two of you talk about?"

The wife in front of them was silently crying. When they had arrived at the door, she had started crying immediately. She had guessed something had happened because he hadn't come home that night. It never got easier for Jane to tell people their loved one has passed away. After all those years, it still stung as hard as the first time.

"Just that he'd be late. The plays were getting out and he wanted to pick up more fares."

She covered her face with her hands, her black bangs falling on top of them. Jane's heart broke even further at the sight. She didn't know how it felt, losing someone like that – she knew the fear of losing someone, but this must be on a whole new level. Sie eventually embraced herself – her skinny arms holding her own lithe body that was covered by a silky blue dress, as if she protecting herself from the pain.

"Actually, he didn't do that. He turned his meter off and he went up to Jackson Square Q. That part of town is known for drug dealing and prostitution" She replied gently, shifting uncomfortably on the couch.

She saw the shock wash over the wife's face and grabbed her knees with both her hands. Jane noted how skinny her arms and legs were, and absently ran a hand over her own wrist, proceeding to touch the wounds on her hands. "No!," she cried out in desperation. "Bai would never do that!"

Her cousin walked into the room and sat down next to her, handing her a glass of water. He gave her a concerned look and rubbed his hand up and down her back, but she smiled sadly at him. "Thank you, Xiu."

Jane fiddled for something in her pockets. Once she found what she was looking for, she handed the cousin a paper. "This annotation was written on Bai's phone – Do you have any idea what this is?"

Xiu took the paper and inspected it. "S1412652," he mumbled and paused to think. "No. I don't recognize this. I- I thought that this was a robbery, that he was robbed."

"It was," Jane replied. "It's just any piece of information could be useful. How did he seem lately?"

"Worried about money," Sie replied sadly. "Cho, our daughter, needs surgery. It's been very hard."

Her head snapped towards the direction of another room when the crying started. The pain in her eyes was growing gradually, and Jane felt her heart hurt at the view.

"I'm sorry," Sie mumbled. "She'll never know her father. Please excuse me." She quickly stood up, her one hand rubbing at her eye as she passed by and shot the detectives an apologetic look. Jane followed the wife leaving the room with her eyes and then turned back to look at Xiu. After a few moments of silence, she decided to proceed with the interrogation.

"Xiu," She asked. "You and Bai were business partners?"

The cousin nodded in agreement.

"How was the business doing?"

"You don't get rich driving a cab, but we made money. Bai drove and we rented shifts to other drivers, Kevin McCann and Dimitri Voldov." Jane gave a quick nod at Korsak, who immediately knew what to do and started writing down the given names.

"So you didn't drive the cab?" Korsak asked.

"For me the taxi medallion was an investment. I just started a new business, a moving company." He replied quietly, his emotions finally taking the better of him as he punched the couch next to him. "TLC doesn't issue a lot of medallions, luckily it's worth a fortune. Sie inherits his share, she'll need it."

Jane nodded, giving him a supportive look when her phone started ringing. She fiddled in her pocket to find it and brought it to her ear.

"Excuse me," she said quickly, turning her head away. "Rizzoli?"

* * *

 

Jane entered the interrogation room where Frost was already interrogating Leman Jones, and sat down beside her partner. The interrogation room always had this smell that remembered her of cigarettes, even though nobody is allowed to smoke inside the room. It went well together with the dark green colors they selected for the room.

"I found those car parts!" Leman yelped, the upper part of his body leaning over the interrogation table. His yellow shirt was very wide, and smelly – Jane decided. It looked as if he had been wearing the same shirt for two weeks. He also had very light blonde hair, that was sticking onto his cheeks because of the sweat. Sweat he had acquired by running away from the police, she assumed.

"On the car you stripped," Jane groaned. "We have a witness who places you at the scene. So please, just stop with the lying." Her fingers touched her temple lightly. The headache that had appeared on the way home was driving her nuts.

"A witness?" Leman's eyes grew in shock and leaned back against the chair, lifting both his arms to each side. "Fine, I stripped that taxi, it's what I do."

"After you killed the driver." Jane explained pointedly.

"After I what?!" Leman's voice grew louder and stronger. "No, I didn't kill any driver because there was no driver." He slammed his fist on the table, as if he were to put emphasis on his words.

"He was robbed in the warehouse," Frost mentioned simply. "Robbed and shot in the head."

"Well, not by me. Okay? I was cruising around 11:15-ish and I saw the cab sitting empty, and I figure, no sense in letting good parts go to waste."

Jane gave a knowing look at Frost and then back at the suspect. Maybe this case would be easy after all.

"11:15-ish? There you go," She said, leaning back against her chair, crossing her arms in front of her. "That's exactly when he was murdered."

"Look, no, I don't hurt people! I'm just a car guy! Your witness must've done it. That's it. And I was just playing innocent bystander or something."

"There was no witness." Jane simply stated then, causing the suspect to stare at her in surprise. She felt Frost smile beside her.

"What do you mean?!" Leman asked, puzzled look on his face.

"I was bluffing."

"Bluffing?"

"Yes!" Jane smirked.

"No!"

"Yeah," Frost joined in the conversation – achievement nearby. "She's allowed to do that. I'm surprised that you didn't know that."

Leman Jones pushed his chair back fast, causing it to fall on the floor. He rested his hands on the table and was leaning forwards to the detectives.

"No I mean," His voice powerful. "There was a guy there! I saw him!"

"What guy? Can you describe him?" Frost asked, noting something down on his clipboard.

"I didn't get a clear look. He ran off when I pulled up. But he was there. He was there looking for something in the car. He did a number on the interior and tore up the upholstery!"

* * *

 

When she left the interrogation room, Maura was waiting for her. It was immediately clear to Jane that she had been listening to the interrogation from behind the mirror. She gave her a small smile as she approached the other woman.

"Do you think he is telling the truth?" Maura asked, passing Jane the coffee that she had gotten her. Maura knew her friend needed the coffee to cope with all the stress from the case, her upcoming undecided marriage and her latest pregnancy scare.

"Hm," Jane thought aloud, sitting down in her chair behind her desk. Maura moved forwards and leaned against her friend's desk, trying to study her best friends face. "I don't think the guy has the improvisation skills to make up a lie like that."

"I'll have my team look for any signs that anyone tampered with the car."

"Thanks, Maura."

They slowly sipped on their coffee when Jane's phone started buzzing. Both she and Maura were staring at it for a moment, causing Maura to eventually snap her head towards Jane's direction.

"Aren't you going to answer that?" Maura asked pointedly. When Jane refused to move, she grabbed the cellphone and looked at the caller. Casey. Okay, that made sense. She didn't know that Jane had been avoiding Casey.

"Have you been ignoring him?" She questioned lightly. Jane grabbed back her phone and put it inside her blazer's pocket. "It doesn't matter, Maura," Jane groaned. She didn't need anyone pushing more pressing matters onto her plate when she couldn't even deal with them herself, let alone talk about it. She pushed her chair back, grabbed her blazer and stomped out of the bullpen.

She passed Frost who tried to stop her with what seemed new information but she decided that she wasn't in the mood for it. "Not now, Frost."

"What's with her?" Frost asked when he reached Maura, the hurt still noticeable in her eyes. Maura just shook her head as an answer. Korsak moved to join the duo, folder in his hand.

"So," he said. "I spoke with one of the drivers who rents a shift with Bai's cab."

"Kevin McCann?" Frost asked.

"Eh no, the other one, Dmitri Voldov. He alibied out, but he had lots to say about McCann. Him and Bai got in a major fight two days ago. He didn't know about what, but Bai told him he was going to fire McCann."

"Where is McCann now?" Maura asked. She was going to find Jane to ask her if she was doing alright and then pass the information on.

"Renting a shift at Allied Taxi." Korsak responded, frowning lightly.

"I'll – I'll go and tell Jane then."

"Could you?" Frost asked, remembering Jane leaving the bullpen in a rage. He knew that only person who could calm Jane down in such moments was Maura. "That'd be best."

"Yeah."

* * *

 

Maura had found Jane in the café, arguing with her mother about Tommy drinking again. She decided she wasn't going to interrupt their family argument. She paced around for a few minutes, until Angela waved at her and gestured her to come over. Jane shot her an apologetic look, probably for what happened earlier and Maura returned it with a smile, to ensure that 'don't worry, it's fine. I won't ask'.

She informed Jane of the new information on the case, about Kevin McCann and explained to her that Dmitri said that Bai had plans to fire Kevin. Jane grabbed Maura by the arm and that is how they ended up standing near a yellow cab, a white male about thirty years old leaning out of it. His long black hair resting over several parts of his face. Maura had started coughing the moment she smelled the cigarette smell on his gang like clothes, and had to stand further away from the cab than Jane.

"Yes, Bai and I had words. No law against that, right?"

"Where were you yesterday at 11:15?" Jane asked with a stern look. Maura had to resist laughing out loud when she saw how intimidated the man was by Jane's tone.

"In this cab driving a drunk bond trader to the Upper West, why?" Jane noted that the man didn't seem upset at all when he learned about his boss' murder. The man had this lifeless look in his eyes – the one that reminded her of Hoyt.

"Well, because that's when he was murdered."

Kevin sighed, running a hand through his relatively long greasy hair and then proceeded to rub his beard. "You're kidding me. Look, I didn't lay a hand on that guy."

"Why did you and he fight two days ago?" Maura asked and Jane shot her a smile. It was one of these rare times that Maura went along with her to interrogate someone, and whenever she does, she always makes sure she gets to interrogate the suspect too.

"Because he was raping me on rent. Look, the guy could afford it, he was flashing a roll that could choke a horse. Five grand easy." He made some hand movements that were supposed to make it look like the roll of money was gigantic.

"Wait, was he known for carrying around that much money?" Jane asked with a curious tone in her voice. If he was known for carrying around a lot of money, the reason as to why he had been killed would be easy.

"First I saw of it. Look, um, are we done here? Because my meter's running."

Jane nodded sternly as she watched the cabbie leave, and moved to stand on the pavement next to Maura. "If Bai was struggling to pay medical bills, what was he doing with that much cash?" Maura asked.

"No idea," Jane shrugged and grabbed her buzzing phone to read the new incoming text." It's Frost. He needs me back at the crime scene as soon as possible, come on, I'll drop you off."

* * *

 

Jane arrived back at the crime scene after dropping Maura off and saw Korsak and Frost hovering around the car. She walked over to meet them and they both waved at her, gesturing her to come over there.

"Remember Leman Jones said that some other dude messed with the cab?" Frost asked once she arrived near the two. Jane nodded as an answer, indicating him to go on.

"Well, CSU just figured out why." He signed for her to follow him to the other side of the car. He started kneeling down and pointed inside the car. Jane followed his gaze and saw the cameras poking out of the car.

"The car had cameras." She stated, making the wheels in her head turn.

"Pinhole cameras. Microphones, too."

"Great. All we have to do is rewind to last night, see who was after him, case closed." She mumbled. She really hoped it could be this simple but she knew that wasn't going to happen.

"We can't. They ripped out the hard drives with all the video data." Korsak replied from the other side of the car.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Jane yelled in frustration, throwing her hands in the air as she started stomping off angrily. She wasn't in the mood for cases that didn't make sense.

They had been going over the facts and different suspects for hours now and still hadn't found anything. Jane looked over to spot the time and saw the clock indicated it was nearing 6PM. Had she really been working for fourteen hours already?

'Poor Maura,' She thought as she saw the woman walk towards her. 'She's probably been awake for more than 30 hours now.' Jane flashed a small smile to Maura who was approaching her with slow steps. She looked so tired, so worn-out, exhausted.

But she knew the feeling; she couldn't fall asleep the day before so here she was with 3 hours sleep. Well, at least she did sleep compared to Maura.

"Hey," Jane murmured, her voice more hoarse than usual due to her cold.

"Hi," Maura replied, smiling softly at her. "Found anything?"

"Not even a clue," Jane sighed deeply.

"Are you staying over?" Maura then asked. She didn't want to go home alone, because she was feeling so exhausted that she was scared she might have an emotional breakdown if she was alone. Also, her best friend seemed pretty upset herself; it was probably not a good idea for them to be alone right now.

"Yeah," Jane mumbled after a few moments. "My apartment still has Casey all over it. Let's go."

She got up from behind her desk and grabbed her blazer to put it on, whilst Maura started collecting Jane's stuff in her bag. She said her byes to Frost, Korsak long gone, and they stepped towards the elevator. Once they got in, Jane rested her head against the cold mirror, her eyes closed.

"Fuck," she cursed. "My head is killing me."

Maura was glad that Jane didn't see the way she had given her a concerned look, she really was. Because that was the last thing that Jane needed right now, having to worry over other people worried about her.

* * *

 

Jane let herself fall onto Maura's couch with a loud noise, followed by a loud sigh. She ran a hand through her hair as Maura sat down next to her, handing her a beer and putting her own glass of wine down. Maura eyed Jane cautiously, as if she was afraid of saying something wrong.

"Jane," she asked softly, her eyes glazing over the other woman who had her eyes closed, enjoying her beer. "You look terrible."

Jane opened her eyes, laughing. "Thanks for the compliment, Doctor Isles." Maura returned the smile.

Granted, Jane did look terrible. She was exhausted, and sick. She thought they could solve this case in a day, since it was a simple robbery, and then she could return home but now, it sure doesn't look like it. And also the stress from Casey's question was still weighing on her.

"How are you?" She asked Maura, placing her beer onto the table next to Maura's wineglass. Jane smiled softly at the other woman, who probably looked even tired than her. "You said you haven't slept since yesterday; you hanging in there?"

Maura nodded slowly. She didn't need her best friend to worry about her, especially with her current situation. She knew how much the situation frustrated Jane, not knowing what to do – and Maura knew all too well that her opinion was worth a lot to what Jane would answer Casey; but she didn't want that.

"I'll be fine," Maura answered. It wasn't as if she was lying, she would be fine eventually, after a good night sleep. "I heard they found cameras inside the cab."

"Yeah," Jane replied, stifling a yawn. "Strange thing is, Bai's wife, his cousin, other drivers, none of them knew that he'd installed those cameras."

"Hm," Maura frowned, sipping some wine slowly. "Maybe Bai was doing a reality show?" She offered with a smile.

"See!" Jane said mockingly, waving both her hands to the side. "That's what I said too!" She gave Maura's body a slight push, smiling. "But turns out no, and they weren't installed by law enforcement either, so..."

"You think someone was spying on him." Maura's face turned into surprise, smile still lingering on her lips.

"Or his passengers," Jane nodded. "Maybe he overheard something he shouldn't have. Anyway whatever it is, I hope we find it soon. I'm tired."

Maura gave her a supportive smile and turned her body to face Jane. She laid her elbow on the couch and rested her head inside her hand. Inspecting the other woman her facial features, she smiled softly.

"I'm sorry, Jane." She whispered lightly. "We should head to bed; tomorrow will be a busy day."

Jane also twisted her body around and copied the same position that Maura had and looked her in the eyes. Maura could see the pain and hurt that was being reflected in Jane's deep brown orbs. She hated seeing that pain in her best friend her eyes.

"Don't apologize," Jane patted Maura's arm. "It's difficult but none of this is your fault. I just," She paused, closing her eyes. "I don't know what to with Casey. I'm not sure if I love him that way, and I don't want to give up everything for him, Maura – I don't want to and I can't."

Maura felt her heart hurt at the thought of her best friend leaving. She had been alone so long and when Jane came into her life and became her friend, she started feeling less lonely. Maura shifted on the couch and embraced Jane slowly, the detective returning the hug after a few moments.

"Take your time, Jane," She whispered once they broke apart. "You know I'll support you in whatever you do. But now, I think it's time for bed." Jane nodded and rose up from the couch, extending her hand to Maura, who accepted it gladly.

"You go first," Maura said. "I'll clean up."

"Okay."


	2. Chapter 2

 

* * *

It was early in the morning when Frankie stopped Maura in the corridor to speak to her. She had seen him approaching her, and her level of anxiety had reached the highest of levels immediately. Once he had reached her, Maura was nervously shifting around, looking at everything but Frankie.

She well remembered the way how he had kissed her, thanks to her photographic memory. But what could she do, he had taken her by surprise. Jane's warning about hurting her brother's feelings were still clearly ringing through her head. In all honesty, she had flirted a little bit with Frankie to distract herself from the fact that her best friend might be getting married, and might be leaving for Afghanistan. But that was all. Maura had no intention of starting a relationship with someone who was basically family to her.

"We need to talk about our kiss," Frankie said slowly, his eyes full of something that Maura didn't dare to think about. She recognized that look all too well, a wave of guilt passing over her.

"Yes, we do," she replied. "It can never happen again." The look on her face was stern, as if she was trying to make sure that Frankie got the message. Maura could see the hurt appear on his face, and she hated it. She hated that she had to hurt his feelings, that she got carried away in what she called her _little game._ And maybe, _maybe_ , even if she had the slightest Interest in Frankie – Maura decided she would never pursue it. As much as she liked the whole Rizzoli family, Jane would always be her favorite Rizzoli.

"Y-yeah," Frankie mumbled quietly, eyes downcast. "Sorry to have bothered you, Maura." He nodded once at her and then turned around to walk towards the bullpen. She took a few moments to realize what just happened and proceeded to follow him into the bullpen. She never liked upsetting people because she was scared people would end up having a grudge against her

"Frankie, I'm so-", Maura tried to say, but she stopped once she saw Jane standing in the bullpen, resting against her desk. She held her phone close to her ear, her hair covering most of her face – but Maura could still see that she was massaging her forehead with her other hand. Maura noted how Jane dressed more casual today than yesterday. And as much as she loved the purple shirt mixed with the blazer from yesterday, she did prefer this black blouse on her. It matched well with the black pants she was wearing, she decided.

* * *

Jane groaned softly as she massaged her forehead once again. This conversation she was having with Casey was giving her headaches. He had called again and she decided just to get it over with – she was going to tell him that she didn't know yet what she wanted to do. But that plan had proven to be more difficult than she first had anticipated.

He had started to complain and whine like a little child and Jane thought it was because he was trying to get her to pity him. She decided that this was one of the things she really didn't like about Casey. Jane removed her hand from her forehead and looked up when she noticed the sound of heels nearing the bullpen. She sent Maura a small smile, seeing that she was wearing the yellow chiffon dress that they had bought together, topped by a grey blazer.

When they had found the dress, they both agreed that it matched Maura's hazel eyes and honeyblonde hair perfectly, and that it would almost be a crime to not buy it. She readjusted her attention to the phone call and then turned around, her back facing Maura. Casey was now accusing Jane of avoiding him.

"I told you I am not!" Jane yelled angrily into the phone. She pushed a few buttons and then tossed it onto her desk, falling down in her chair, running a hand through her hair. Maura slowly walked towards her, placing a coffee onto her desk as Frost arrived at her desk too.

"Hey," Jane mumbled, massaging her forehead once again. She almost felt embarrassed that her friends had to witness her outburst. Jane didn't like attention and yet she had this funny way of attracting too much of it – leading to some amusing situations.

"Hey," Frost replied, and sat down in his own chair, opposite of Jane. "Were you talking to Casey?" He regretted immediately asking once he saw Jane's look turn into a stern one.

"Barry—", Maura tried with a small voice. She knew that Jane didn't like it when people were trying to intrude on her personal conversations and she feared for the detective's reaction.

Jane scoffed loudly, regaining her posture. "It's really none of your business," she said. She was glad that Maura was trying to protect her, always being there for her; but she could handle Frost. Frost was a friend of hers too in the end, but she wouldn't tell him the same things that she told Maura. She trusted Maura with her life.

"But yes." Frost wasn't bothered by the rather rude response and just shrugged. He was getting used to this kind of behavior from Jane, so he basically never commented on it anymore.

"It just looked personal."

"It was." Jane stated shortly, indicating that the topic was over. "Where are we on those camera's?" She shot Maura another small smile, knowing that their conversation wasn't over yet. Maura would probably find her somewhere during the day and make her talk about her phone call with Casey. But Maura would also know that she shouldn't dig too much. She knew that if Jane was ready to talk about it, she would.

"Just that they were installed by a pro. Techs are running the serial numbers now to find out where they came from. A guy with surveillance in his cabs, too much money in his pocket, the whole thing feels hinky." Frost said, going through the file again.

"Based on his financials, it looks hinky, too. Guy had medical bills up the wazoo, but then there's this from five days ago." Korsak said as he walked into the bullpen, indicating them to come into the other room. He pulled up Bai's financials again.

Jane frowned lightly as she noticed something that was indeed rather hinky. "A cash deposit for ten thousand dollars?"

"What's a struggling cab driver doing with that kind of cash?" Maura questioned lightly, her head tilted to one side. They all shrugged in response. Frost went to sit down beside Korsak and started typing something on his computer.

"Yo," Frost said. "I just found something weird. I logged into Bai's GPS account to track where he drove the day he died. At 4:07 PM., Bai's picked up a cash fare at 15th and Ann Street."

"What's weird about that?" Maura asked, confusion noticeable in her voice as she turned her face towards Frost.

"Well," Frost replied, lifting his one hand to the side as if he was indicating a path. "The passenger rode for 26 minutes, then got dropped off at the same corner where Bai picked him up. Now, who would pay thirty bucks to go in a circle?"

Jane, who was sitting on a chair beside him, rose to her feet – and walked towards the screen. She was pointing at the screen, nodding her head up and down a few times and then turned around to face the team.

"Someone who wanted to talk to Bai," she paused for a beat and then turned around to face the screen again. She looked around on the screen to where the traffic cameras were in the street, and her face lit up when she noticed there were camera's just a few meters away from the place where he picked the man up.

"Check those traffic cameras, Frost. See if we can get a look at that passenger."

"On it."

"Jane?" a voice came from the doorway and Jane identified it as Frankie's. She gestured at him to come over and when he did, he hand her a file. Jane opened it and quickly scanned through the file as a smile crept on her face.

"We got a match on those cameras hidden in Bai's cab." She explained, tossing the file back onto the desk, grabbing her blazer from her chair. "The cameras were ordered a week ago by a Techno Pro Systems."

* * *

Jane slammed the door of her car shut when they arrived at Techno Pro Systems. She decided that the place looked rather cheap, it being situated in someone's garage. The white walls didn't match the green furniture that he used in the garage. Jane was sure Maura would have agreed with her on this matter – and if Jane knew that the mix of colors was wrong, something was really wrong.

They entered the garage and a ginger-haired man in a blue working outfit came over to them. He wasn't very tall and he seemed on the skinny side too. The bags under his tired blue eyes indicating a lack of sleep. Jane wondered if maybe was feeling guilty about what he did. Maybe he heard the man he helped got murdered.

"Hi," he said. "Welcome to Techno Pro Systems. I'm Craig, can I help you?"

Jane nodded, fiddling for her badge and then flashed it in front of the man. His eyes widened just the necessary amount when he saw the badge.

"Yeah," she answered, her voice still hoarse. "I'm Detective Rizzoli, this is Detective Frost." She waved her hand over to Frost's side as she introduced him. "We're here to talk about the hidden camera's you've installed."

"I don't know what you guys are talking about. I didn't install any hidden cameras." The man rambled in response, guilt clearly visible in his eyes. Jane was wondering if the man was even trying to hide the fact that he was guilty of something.

"Your name is on the purchase order," Jane showed him the document she was holding – pointing with her finger at his name printed onto the document.

"As is your signature." Frost added, shooting Jane a playful smile. The evidence they had against this man was foolproof. He found it almost amusing how the man was trying to deny his guilt even though his body language was betraying him.

"You violated the expectation of privacy act." She tilted her head to the side to be more intimidating. "Do you know that I could arrest you for that?" Jane knew she was bluffing, she wasn't going to arrest him for that. They were here for a homicide, not for illegal acts – but he didn't need to know that.

"Yeah," Craig mumbled quietly, whilst staring at the ground. He then snapped his head up quickly, shaking it a little bit to each side. "I mean – I mean, no!"

Jane gave Frost a quick look, small smile playing on her lips as he returned the favor. She had Craig where she wanted. Jane had the needed experience to break people when she needed to, since what Hoyt did to her. She absently ran a hand over her scar, feeling the pain once she pushed it softly. It was a never ending reminder of what the man had done to her.

"Or," he began slowly. Craig shot him a hopeful look. "You could just tell her who hired you to install the surveillance equipment."

"I promised him I'd keep it on the DL." Craig argued nervously.

"Who hired you?" Jane questioned sternly, her voice more powerful than before.

Craig sighed once or twice, running a hand nervously through his hair. He shrugged and eventually gave up. "Bai Lee."

"You put it in for Bai?" Frost questioned, squinting his eyes a little.

"Yeah." The reply almost came as a squeak.

"Why would he have you put cameras in his cab?" She moved her one foot to the front, snapping her head, that first was directed to the floor, over to Craig. The more leads they got, the less sense this case made. Jane hated it. Normally she'd like cases that presented a challenge, but with everything going on right now - she wished she could just catch a break.

"Security reasons," Craig shrugged once more, his nervousness visually disappearing. "That's all he said."

* * *

Once Jane and Frost returned from their outing, she entered the café. Angela quickly spotted her and gestured her to come over.

"Janey," Angela said disapprovingly, putting down a plate filled with pancakes in front of Jane. "You look tired! Did you sleep?"

Jane only huffed in response. She knew her mother was only asking because she was concerned and cared about her, but sometimes she wished that her mother could just leave her alone. She sighed as she ran a hand through her hair, poking at the pancake that she had just gotten from Angela. Her mother seemingly understood the message, because she left and went back to the counter.

"Jane." Maura said lightly. She had just entered the café and sat down on the chair in front of Jane. She was surprised the detective didn't even notice her. Normally Jane was very on-guard, the smallest noise making her flinch. Maura decided that her behavior was justified, remembering her past with Hoyt.

"Yeah?"

"Don't just poke your food, eat it. You need to eat properly."

"I know, mom." Jane drew out the last word, annoyance noticeable in her voice. She just wasn't hungry, but she knew she had to eat because she hadn't eaten since yesterday morning. But honestly, the thought of food made her feel sick; like she was about to vomit any moment.

Maura knew that those words meant the end of their conversation. She poked at her own food and eventually started eating it – eyeing her best friend several times during their lunch. They had quiet lunches before, but this one made her feel really uncomfortable, wishing she could just do something to help. Part of their friendship was their comfortable silences; the way they could just sit and watch TV mindlessly, or read books together. It was something that made them feel at ease with each other. And that is why she hated seeing her best friend so worked up like this.

* * *

"Yo, Rizzoli," Frost said, gaining Jane's attention. She got up from her desk and went into the computer room, sitting down in one of the chairs beside Frost. "Caught a break on our mystery passenger off a traffic cam where Bai dropped the guy off." He pulled his screen up on the view-screen. "Notice anything?" he asked.

Jane took a closer look at the man. On the screen there was a Chinese man with a creamy suit. Jane noticed the man was bald but still had a ridiculous moustache. He looked like he could be 6 feet tall, but she wasn't sure. He sure looked like he had long surpassed the age of thirty, though. Jane got up to take a closer look. She let her eyes scan over the screen and noticed the man's jacket was stained at the hip on the photo.

"He's carrying." She noted, poking the view-screen.

Korsak, who was sitting on the other side of the room nodded. "Yeah, but he's not police." He stated like it was common knowledge. "Suit is way too fancy." Jane noted the grin playing on his lips. She knew that Korsak wasn't the most stylish person of all. She remembered when he wanted to pick a fitting tie to wear to court; they had teased him the whole day because both ties had looked like disco outfits.

Jane liked Korsak, he was like a father to her. He had always been very supportive of her in whatever she was doing. She knew she had hurt his feelings when she had asked to get a new partner, but he understood. Korsak always understood.

Aside from Maura, he was the only one who she told about her false pregnancy. Jane had wondered if it had made her a bad person for hoping that she wasn't pregnant, but she didn't let her mind wander on it too long. The moment she discovered that she wasn't with Casey's child, she was relieved. She really was; because she had been scared of all the things she would have to say goodbye to. She didn't want to have the possibility of having a child with Casey influencing her decision whether she wanted to marry him or not, as cruel as it may sound.

"Let's canvass the area where this was taken," Frost offered. "See if anyone knows who he is."

* * *

Sie ran both her hands through her hair, clearly out of desperation, Jane noted. She felt bad that she had to come and question the wife again about the cameras, but it had to be done.

"I keep track of the expenses for the cab," she said softly, her eyes roaming over the paper once again. "There was never any bill for the cameras."

"What about the $10.000?" Korsak questioned. He too felt a little uncomfortable asking the wife these questions in this situation.

"The first time I heard about the money is today. I can't imagine where it came from." The wife mumbled in response. Jane and Korsak shot the same painful look at each other. She wondered what was going through Sie's head right now. Did she feel betrayed by her husband? Did she feel angry? Sad? She wanted to say something to comfort her, but quickly enough realized that there were no words that could possibly make this situation any better.

"Money, cameras, Jackson Square Q," Jane said softly. She tilted her head to the side and had a worried look in her eyes. "Sie, your husband was clearly hiding something from you. Do you have any idea what it was?" It almost pained Jane to have to ask this question to her.

"No," Sie replied. She buried her head in her hands, sobbing quietly. "No, I don't understand this at all."

Jane apprehensivey shifted so she could rest against the couch. She shot a concerned look over to Korsak, who responded with a small shrug. Moments of silence passed, when Korsak opened his folder and grabbed a picture.

"Hey," he said lightly, asking for the wife's attention who was still sobbing. "Do you recognize this man? He rode in your husband's cab." He showed her the picture of the bald Chinese man with the fancy suit. Sie inspected the picture as she slowly took it in her hands. After a few moments she returned it, her cheeks red from her tears.

"Yes!" she exclaimed once Korsak took it from her. "Y—yes. He was here." Korsak shot Jane a look that she couldn't quite figure out what it meant.

"When?" She probed, hoping to get more information about the mysterious man. Sie thought for a few moments. "Last week," she stumbled over her own words. "H-he and Bai were talking in the street."

She got up and walked over to the window, pointing at a certain parking space in the street. Sie then covered her chest with one of her hands, watching sadly out of her window. She stood in silence as Jane and Korsak watched her, unsure of what to say.

"Who was he?" Jane eventually asked after moments of silence. She felt like she was intruding on the woman's personal moment of grief.

"I asked Bai," Sie replied softly, turning around to face the detectives again, tears still visible in her eyes. "He said that the man had mistaken him for someone else."

* * *

Jane and Korsak entered their car in silence, just staring out of their windows. Korsak put the folder away whilst Jane fixed her seatbelt. She let her body fall softly into the seat, resting her head against the seat, sighing deeply.

"Bai clearly knew the guy," she mumbled softly as she recalled how the woman gazed sadly out of her window. Sie was standing there again, as if she was waiting until God realized that this was all a big mistake and suddenly her husband would park his yellow cab there, step out of it and take her into his arms. "Why would he lie to her?" Jane continued. Her voice was full of an emotion that she wrote off as disbelief. She wondered, if she had ever gotten married to Casey, if he would ever lie to her like that.

Then again, anyone you love could betray you like that, she decided. It wasn't just Casey. Jane was fighting a mental battle; was she really trying to find an excuse not to marry Casey? Why wasn't the fact that she didn't love him not good enough? Did she really need to justify not marrying him? And to who did she have to justify this? To herself?

"How does he end up dead the same day this guy rides in his cab?" Korsak questioned, obviously seeing that Jane was in deep thought. They both spent some more moments in silence, both lost in their track of thoughts, when Jane's phone started ringing rudely. She grabbed her phone from her belt and brought it to her ear, flipping her hair backwards.

"Rizzoli?"

"We just got a hit for the mystery passenger." Frost said when Jane and Korsak walked back into the bullpen. They had spent the drive back in total silence, both minding their own business. Jane was still beating herself up about the issue with Casey, still unsure how to deal with it.

"We got a name on that face?" She asked as she sat down in her chair that was on opposite of Frost's.

"Not yet," Frost replied, with a smile on his face, waving a paper in front of Jane. "But he's a big fan of this coffee shop on 14th. He shows up every afternoon for an espresso at two." Jane grasped the paper out of his hand and grabbed her blazer whilst standing up.

"I'm going alone," She said and walked out of the bullpen, waiting for the elevator to pick her up whilst she put her hair in a ponytail. When the elevator doors opened, she noticed Maura standing there.

"Maura," she sounded surprised, quickly taking notice of the fact that Maura had her jacket on and wasn't carrying any folders. "What are you doing here?" She lifted her one hand to pat Maura's arm lightly, as a way of saying hi.

"I was coming to ask if you wanted to have lunch," Maura replied her voice going just a little bit higher at the end of sentence. She tilted her head to the side, noticing the ponytail and the fact that Jane had put her blazer on. "But it seems like you're busy?"

"Nah, I was heading out," She put her hand on Maura's back, leading her back into the elevator. "Come with me and then we can have lunch afterwards." Maura's face changed into a puzzled one as she was pushed back into the elevator.

"Ooh," a smile crept onto her face as she snapped her head towards Jane's. "I get to be part of the cool crowd?"

Jane lifted one of her eyebrows at the expression and then shook her head, small smile playing on her lips. "Yeah," she mumbled. "Yes, Maura. The cool crowd." She rolled her eyes as the elevator doors closed in front of them

* * *

"Sir! In the cream suit!" Jane yelled, holding her gun in her hands. She was moving with a fast pace towards the man, Maura following her just a few steps behind on her stiletto heels. "Stop, BPD, turn around!"

The man came to halt, slowly and his raised shoulders slumped down a little. The man raised his hands slowly into the air, both on each side of his body. He then slowly turned around, smirk playing on his lips as he came face to face with Jane. She nodded her head two times, the second time she tilted her head a little bit to the left, to indicate that he had to get his gun out of his coat. He slowly moved his hand to his pocket and grabbed his gun. He handed it over to Jane, who was still watching him with a stern look on her face and the gun pointed at the man. She handed the gun with her free hand to Maura, her gaze still fixated on the man, not wavering even in the slightest. Maura took the gun out of her hands carefully and inspected it.

"Jane," she affirmed, slowly turning her head towards Jane before continuing with a small nod. "It's a 9mm".

"Just like our murder weapon," Jane said, stern look covering her face. "Do you have a concealed weapons permit?"

"Inside left pocket of my jacket," The man mumbled with a pokerface plastered onto his face. Although, Maura decided, perhaps a poker-face would be a better way of describing it. "Along with my credentials." Jane opened the man his coat and pulled out the ID slowly.

"Qiang Sung," she mumbled as her eyes scanned over the ID. She then snapped her head towards the man again. "Chinese Consulate." She tilted her head to the side, sarcasm noticeable in her voice. What a coincidence, she thought.

"At your service," the man replied, returning the sarcasm that Jane had used.

"Put your hands down," Jane ordered, lowering her gun too. She stepped a little bit forward to her side so she was standing in front of Maura, in a protective way.

"Thank you" The Chinese man replied, a smile playing on his lips as he lowered his hands. Jane noticed that the man his moustache didn't match his face and certainly not with his smile, although she'd rather have referred to it as a grimace. Quite honestly, she'd gladly punch the grimace off his face.

"Two days ago, you were driving in a cab with Bai Lee." Jane explained. "He's been murdered."

"I am saddened to hear that," The man replied, his face nor his voice showing any emotion. It gave Maura shivers to see how the man didn't even flinch or have the slightest reaction to someone's death. She sometimes forgot how insensitive people could be in this world.

You don't look very saddened." Maura retorted, accusing look on her face. Jane had to control her laughter as it reminded her of the time when they had run into Brian O'Reilly. He had wanted her to come onto his show , but she refused; and when he started prodding, Maura had called him out being a mean person; only to apologize minutes later.

"You were in the car for half an hour," Jane continued, focusing on the man again. The man was still smiling at them, his eyes going back and forth between Maura and Jane, causing Jane to shift her weight towards Maura's side. "What's the nature of your relationship?"

"I have diplomatic immunity, you have no stand—" The man tried to say but Jane interrupted him fiercely, stepping forward.

"Who killed him?" Her voice was loud and full of anger, as she remembered the wife and her baby again. "Was it you?!" She almost spit the words out.

"Jane." Maura tried with a soft voice. If Maura hadn't known Jane for such a long time, she would've been scared by the demanding way that Jane was talking to this man. Jane let herself be driven by her emotions, although she would always deny that. If Jane was angry, she would show it.

She was so driven by her feelings to find Hoyt and put him in jail and then afterwards to find his apprentices. Jane her strength was so easily traced back to her emotions and the people she cares about. It was one of the things Maura liked about Jane. The way she wouldn't tolerate injustice and the way she would always find the strength to fight for justice.

"—In questioning, or detaining me." The man continued, ending his sentence lamely.

"Answer my question!" Jane yelled. She moved closer to the man, so close that she could almost feel his breath on her. "Did you kill him?" She asked again, her voice full of anger. The man simply stepped backwards, smile still plastered on his face.

"I'd like my pistol," he commented lightly as he extended his hand to Jane. "Please."

Jane hated the way how the man was being friendly to her because she knew he was doing it to piss her off. She hated how he was actually getting under her skin. She grunted in annoyance. There was no way that she was going to let this man have his way because he's a Chinese consultant. She put his gun in her pocket and stepped aside so she wasn't in front of Maura anymore.

"You can collect it at the BPD." She scoffed and she turned around, putting her hand on Maura's back to indicate they were leaving.

"And so I shall." The bald man said. Jane turned around one more time whilst Maura started walking. She watched the man enter the café; to order his espresso, she assumed. She followed him with her eyes until he was fully gone. Jane then returned her attention back to Maura who had now stopped walking and was watching Jane with a confused face.

"Jane?" She asked, her honeyblonde hair being blown into her face because of the wind. Jane stepped closer to Maura with a heavy step and groaned. "I don't like that guy!" She mumbled and motioned at Maura to move.

"He's a very cold man," Maura stated when they started walking forward. The wind had started to pick up, causing her to shiver. She pulled her coat together in the hope to get some heat. "There's something about him that I don't like, Jane. You should be careful."

"Yeah," Jane absently replied – her mind obviously somewhere else. "I don't like him at all."


	3. Chapter 3

Once they had gotten in the car, Jane texted Frost the man's ID, asking him to verify the given information. After a long banter of what they should have for lunch, both Jane and Maura agreed on a simple sandwich, because they simply wanted to get back to the case as quickly as possible. The duo picked up their food and then headed back to the police department.

Jane walked into the bullpen first, followed by Maura, gaining Frost's attention. He leaned back in his chair and waved his one hand weakly at her, motioning them to come over to their combined desks. Jane paused for a few seconds, waiting for Maura to catch up with her and then moved forward. She fell down in her chair as Maura rested her body against the desk.

"So?" Jane asked impatiently. "What have you got on this guy?"

"Qiang Sung's official title at the consulate is the head of security," Frost said, grabbing his computer screen to twist it over to Jane's side. "He's a member of the secret police."

Maura watched Jane's forehead turn into a few lines of concern. They all knew that working with the secret police never really worked out.

"Well," Jane replied eventually, removing some hair out of her face as she leaned back in her chair. "He's probably broken a few fingers in his day." She continued sarcastically and Maura had to stifle a laugh.

"Qiang Sung also owned a 9 mm gun, which was the same gun that killed Bai." Frost stated.

"Maybe Sung recruited him here, drew him into the shadowy world of espionage. Once he finished his mission, his fate was sealed. Sung killed him to tie up loose ends, and then took the data drive containing the explosive revelations." Frankie said.

He had just walked into the room and pulled out a chair to sit next to Frost. He twisted his body lightly to high five Frost, who was smiling broadly. Maura shot Jane a confused look, gaining a small smile from the detective.

"And that would be what, exactly?" Jane asked, sarcasm noticeable in her voice and a smile plastered on her face.

"I'm still thinking about that," Frankie said lightly. "But it's a perfect fit."

"Except that Qiang Sung isn't the killer." Frost commented. He grabbed his computer screen and twisted it back over to him.

"Are you sure?" Jane asked, grimacing. "Because that would ruin a perfect theory!" Maura rolled her eyes at Jane's sarcasm, giving her a small laugh.

"Yeah. The night Bai was killed, Qiang was with the Chinese ambassador at a soccer game at Nickerson Field." Frost said, turning his screen towards Jane once again. "There are photos online to prove it."

"Which brings us back to square one." Jane sighed, her eyes darkening again. "Okay. So, Bai and Sung take a tour around Boston. And then later on that same night, he calls his wife, tells her that he's still working, and instead went up to Jackson Square T."

She crossed her arms in front of her chest, giving her desk a pointed look. The whole case was just so confusing and she had other things on her mind.

"And he ends up dead at the warehouse with the data drive ripped out." Frost continued. His face was also covered with a frown. They sat in silence for a few moments, tapping their desks, frowning when Maura suddenly rose up from resting against the desk. Her eyes were widened from shock.

"S4121652," She said whilst turning around to face the detectives as she clapped her hands several times. "S412162! She said again, excitement noticeable in her voice. When she saw that nobody was watching on and only giving her confused stares, she continued. " Bai took his cab down St. Nicholas Ave. to the 1600 block. He parked mid-block."

Her eyes were twinkling from excitement, as if she was a kid who had just seen Santa Claus for the first time in her life.

"So?" The detectives all questioned.

"So- So, I'm just thinking the 1652 part of S4121652 is an address." She said with a smile, waving her hands in a dramatic kind of way. She flipped her hair to the side lightly as she turned to look at Frost. "What's at St. Nicholas Ave. at 1652?" She asked.

Frost nodded and quickly typed in a few things. Jane leaned forward over her desk in anticipation, ready to start getting up.

"North Boston Storage." Frost gasped out, leaning back in his chair again.

Jane's gaze shifted over to Maura's and both their faces lit up, as if they were communicating through telepathy.

"It's a storage unit!" They both said at the same time. Jane pushed back her chair and grabbed her blazer, throwing it over her shoulders. She grabbed Maura's hand and pulled her along with her as she strutted towards the elevator.

"We're going to check it out, Frost. Keep digging!" She yelled at him, giving him a quick look over her shoulder. She moved her hand to Maura's back and pushed the woman into the elevator.

"Jane—" Maura tried to say but Jane just shook her head. "You discovered this, you are coming with me. Besides you have to check for prints, and, stuff." Jane tiredly pushed a button in the elevator and then rested against the wall.

"Are you okay?" Maura asked softly, tilting her head softly to the side.

Jane grunted loudly as she lifted her head up to look at Maura. "If you can ignore the fact I'm still wearing the same clothes from yesterday and I probably smell like an elephant, then – sure, yes, Maura, I am feeling amazing, thank you."

She slowly opened one eye to look at Maura's facial expression and shot her a soft apologetic smile. Maura just grinned back slowly at her. They both loved their playful banter. It was a good escape from her concerns about Casey. She remembered how he would often get really pissed off at her if she was spending too much time with Maura; or when they were making an inside joke that he didn't understand.

Jane often wondered if the way he was treating her wasn't bordering on emotional abuse. Maura had offered the term a few times to her when she was explaining some of the things Casey had said to her, but she had just waved it away. Jane Rizzoli was a strong woman, she wasn't going to be emotionally abused by some guy.

"Well," Maura turned around to face the elevators doors, a devilish look in her eyes. "Self-knowledge is the key all other kinds of knowledge, Jane." She gave Jane a quick wink as she smiled to herself.

* * *

"Murder, political intrigue, cash payments and now a mysterious storage unit," Jane sighed as they were walking through several halls filled with storage units. Maura was quietly smiling as they kept walking. "This case is hell," Jane continued once they reached the unit they were searching for.

"Wait, how are we going to get it open?" She questioned. Jane realized that these were things she should've thought of before, but she was too distracted on the way here to have had thought of it. Her mind had been clouded with thoughts of Casey, thoughts of pushing everyone away and being alone. What if she ended up alone, by herself?

Maura gave her a quick look and opened her bag, handing Jane two flashlights and lifting a bolt cutter out of her bag.

"Well, if all else fails…" She put down her bag and stroke a pose with the bolt cutter. She ended the pose with a quick-Maura smile (that's what Jane calls it), throwing back her hair and blinking once very slowly.

Jane stifled a laugh, lifting one eyebrow and crossing her arms in front of her. Maura sometimes surprised her, in a good way. She was often surprised by the playful reactions that Maura could give to certain situations, and Jane isn't a psychologist but sometimes she wonders if Maura is making up for her lost youth. The detective always wanted to ask, but she's somewhat, scared, or nervous, for the reaction that she would get.

"For reasons, I find that hot." Jane replied, a smirk plastered on her face. Maura chuckled as she sent Jane a wink, who stepped over to stand next to the blonde and took the bolt cutter out of her hands. "Where did you get this thing anyway?"

"My car," The medical examiner shrugged, gaining a look from Jane. " Or maybe, I hadn't handed Bai's keys that were in his pockets over to property yet." She said as she fished for something in her bag, handing Jane a bunch of keys. "I hope this is the locker."

Jane passed Maura the bolt cutter, who put it back into her bag. The detective moved forward to the padlock, kneeling down and putting the keys in it. When they both heard the padlock give a click, they shared a triumphant look.

"It is!" She mumbled, standing up straight. "What do you think is in there?"

"I don't know," Maura said, walking forward to stand next to Jane. "It might be empty like Al Capone's vault."

"Al Pizza's who?" Jane retorted, causing Maura to roll her eyes at her and gaining a small laugh from Jane.

"Oh Jane," she chuckled lightly. "Think of all the amazing things that are found in storage units at times like this." Jane frowned slightly at her, thinking for a quick moment when she suddenly put her hands on her sides.

"Ark of the covenant, Dr. Jones" She said with a German accent, striking a pose. Maura ignored her action and lifted the door in a swift moment. They shared a quick look when they noticed a single small crate at the back. Jane took one of the flashlights out of her pocket and handed it to Maura and took the other one for herself. The duo walked forward slowly, flashing their lights at the crate.

"Well," Maura said quietly. "The ark of the covenant was in a crate."

They halted in front of the crate for a moment, only their breathing noticeable. Jane moved her flashlight so it was pointing at the lock. She fiddled with it and unlocked it, lifting the lid slowly. Maura gasped at the sight and Jane grunted when she noticed the explosives laying inside the crate.

"Plastic explosives," she mumbled. "Great, that's exactly what this case needs. Explosives."

Jane was about to continue her complaining when she was suddenly interrupted by a loud beeping noise, earning a yelp from Maura. She grabbed something from her bag and lighted her flashlight at it. Jane noticed the horror that was growing in her friend's eyes.

"Jane," Maura ordered, her voice just a little bit higher than she wanted, panic visibly in all her features. "Get out!" She shrieked, stepping backwards. "Get out!"

Jane turned around slowly, watching Maura fall in slow movements towards the exit, horror visible on her face.

"What?" She asked, the plead in Maura's voice worried her.

"Go!" Maura ordered again. She stepped forward again and grabbed Jane's hand.

"Why? Look, I don't—" Jane was being dragged out of the storage unit by Maura who dropped her flashlight from panic.

"Jane, back away from the door! Get away!"

Maura gave Jane a powerful push as the detective was still standing still, trying to process what was going on. The doctor dropped her bag and grabbed the top of the storage unit's door, closing it quickly. She motioned for Jane to follow her as she strutted down the hall on a rapid pace.

"What's going on?" Jane asked as they were walking down the hall. "What's that thing?" Jane almost felt stupid afterwards for asking the question, because she was pretty damn sure she knew what the thing in Maura's bag was. But she wanted, needed confirmation.

Maura ignored Jane's question as she fiddled for her phone in her bag, pushing a few buttons once she found it. She clumsily brought it to her ear, her bag somewhere caught between her two hands and her arms.

"This is Dr. Maura Isles. I've been exposed to high levels of radiation. We need emergency services right away."

She ended the call with a soft push, gaining a horrified look from Jane. She shot the detective an apologetic look, who eventually returned it with a soft smile. Maura knew that as long Jane was there, she wouldn't have to be scared. They had encountered worse, they'd be fine. Right?

* * *

Alarms sounded as Jane was dragged down a long plastic tunnel by two men in hazmat suits. They held her by her arms as she tried to wriggle out of their hold. She was trying to kick them, but they didn't move. The two men tossed her into a room and zipped up the entrance. She stood up and ran over to the entrance and banged her hand on the white plastic.

"Guys, you can't just—you can't!" Jane yelled, running a hand through her dark curls. "Just at least tell me how serious it is!"

She waited a few moments and relaxed her body once no reply came. Jane rubbed both her hands over her face, letting out a grunt. The detective stopped her nervous movements when she heard someone take a breath.

Of course she wouldn't be here alone, why hadn't she thought of that?

Jane slowly turned around to see Maura standing there, panicked look in her eyes. Their eyes connected and the brunette quietly stepped over to her. They stood in silence for a moment, when Maura released a breath she didn't realize she had been holding.

Jane suddenly felt a pang of guilt flashing through her. It had been her decision to bring Maura along with her to the storage. She shouldn't have done that. Jane was angry with herself for bringing Maura, the person who mattered to her the most, to such a dangerous situation.

She refused to break the eye-contact with the medical examiner. She hated seeing that look in her friend's hazel eyes. That look that she only saw whenever her best friend was in pain, hurting, and all Jane could do was hug her. If only she could fix Maura's problems, but Maura's problems were unsolvable for anyone that wasn't the medical examiner herself.

Jane knew that Maura would never admit it how much she was actually hurting. How lonely she felt, but she knew. Jane wondered if the blonde noticed the worried looks that she shoots her when Jane accidentally sees Maura's mask slip away for a small beat. She wondered if the blonde knew how Jane's heart breaks at the view of the amount of pain in her friend's eyes.

 _Do you even know how much you mean to me? Have I ever told you?_ Jane wondered. _We never talk about how much pain you're in, do you know I would listen?_

The detective suddenly launched forward and captured Maura in her arms. She felt the medical examiner hesitate for a moment but relaxed when she noticed arms encircling her. That's when Jane knew Maura was scared, scared of not knowing what was going on and Jane decided she hated it. She hated it all, all the things that made Maura sad or scared. All of it.

"I'm so sorry I brought you here." Jane whispered into the blonde's hair. She rested her chin on the mop of hair. "I'm so, so sorry."

* * *

"How badly did they get hit?" Korsak asked. They had gathered in the bullpen when they heard the news about Jane and Maura. Korsak had already left to go home but once he got Frost's call, he had returned immediately to the station.

Jane was like a daughter to him and after everything that happened with Hoyt, he had promised himself that he would never let anything happen to her again.

"We don't know." Cavanaugh replied. Korsak noted the lines on his forehead that indicated his worry. He knew Cavanaugh cared a lot about Jane too, but he would never show it.

"But the best way for us to help them is to keep working on this case." He opened a folder he was holding and started hanging up pictures onto the board one by one. "Now, our murder victim had a key to this storage unit. So he was into a lot more than driving a taxi." Cavanaugh turned around to meet Frost's eye.

"Dig deep into Bai Lee." Frost nodded at him, taking some pictures off the board. Cavanaugh then motioned to Korsak, gaining the man's attention. "Let's get his wife and cousin in here."

Frost quickly walked over to his desk and sat down in front of his computer. "I'll call the Chinese consulate and find out why Bai had contact with the head of security." He said while typing some things.

"They won't talk to you," a voice came from the hallway. A tall, blonde man appeared from around the corner. His face was very strict and he was carrying various folders in his arms. "Whatever Sung was into, the Chinese don't want it blowing back on them."

"Excuse me, who are you?" Cavanaugh asked with a stern face.

"You must be Cavanaugh," the blonde man said, extending his hand. "I'm Mark Fallon. Department of Homeland Security. EMS sent me down to act as a liaison. I understand you have a situation?"

* * *

An hour later, Jane was standing over at the clear plastic unzipped section as she stared at the hazmat teams. She frowned as she noticed different teams running around and yelling things at each other.

"Those hazmat teams," she absently mumbled to Maura, who was still sitting on one of the benches in the room. The medical examiner was quiet as she stared at her intertwined hands laying in her lap. "They only stay in the building for about a minute at a time."

Maura shrugged nervously as she fiddled with her fingers. She knew, but she didn't want to worry Jane. She herself wasn't all too sure what exactly was going on, but she knew it couldn't be positive. But staying quiet about negative news was always better than spreading false positive news, no?

"Maybe it's just standard protocol." She stated dryly but she could already feel the hives coming up. Jane sighed deeply and then zipped up the window. After a few moments she walked over to where Maura was sitting.

"You're hiving up, Maura." Jane said, noticing her friend's unease. The silence that developed between them was awkward. Maura lifted her head up to look her friend in the eye when Jane stayed quiet.

What if they both got so ill that they would die in a couple of days? What would Casey say? A sudden feeling of regret washed over Jane as she realized she hadn't made her feelings clear to Casey yet. Did she even know what she felt though? Being in this situation made her wonder – perhaps it's not okay that her first thought was getting her best friend to safety. Perhaps it should've been letting Casey know that something was wrong.  
She made a promise to herself that once they get out of this situation, she would call Casey and tell him the truth. Tell him that she wasn't too sure if she loved him and that she wanted to call it quits. Jane decided it wasn't okay to keep leading him on like this.

"Maybe it's just too hot in there to handle." Jane tried. She nervously ran a hand through her curls. She took a sharp breath as she turned around to face Maura, motioning to the blonde's purse. "That radiation thing of yours, does it have a scale on it? You know, like chest x-ray to Chernobyl?"

The detective laid a hand on Maura's shoulder as she moved to sit down next to her. She then absently rubbed the blonde's back when she noticed her friend's rapid breathing. Jane wished she knew how to calm her friend down.

"Maxed out." Maura said, turning her head away to the side as if she was running away from the truth. She didn't want to tell Jane the reason why she felt so nervous, scared even. The maxed out radiation indicator could mean a bunch of things.

"Oh."

That wasn't the answer Jane had been expecting and she could notice that Maura hadn't felt like telling her either. A few minutes passed as they stayed to their own thoughts. Jane's thoughts drifted back to her previous musing of Casey and Maura's hurting.

"Maura?" Jane asked softly.

"Yes?"

"Why are you pretending?"

Jane knew it was hardly the appropriate time to ask such a harsh question, but she couldn't help but wonder if Maura ever let herself have her own feelings. She never stood still to realize how difficult it must be for Maura. Yes, she was a grown woman but _still._ Since they became close friends, Maura had been through a lot and Jane couldn't help but wonder if those things have made impact on the medical examiner. She rarely talked about what she's thinking, compared to the brunette who speaks every thought she thinks aloud. Maura looked surprised and Jane swore she could see something flash in her eyes but she couldn't really identify what it was. The medical examiner seemed to need a few seconds to regain her defenses. Once they had returned, she tilted her head lightly to the side.

"What do you mean?"

"It's just, I have been thinking," Jane said nervously, staring at the scars on her hands. "Since Hoyt, you've been so supportive of me, taking care of me in every way possible but..-" She paused for a second. "You never talk about how you're feeling. With your father, your mother, Ian. You know that I would listen if you want to talk about it, right?"

She heard Maura take a sharp breath beside her and Jane wondered if that what she heard was relief, as if Maura was expecting Jane to say something different.

"Right."

Her words were followed by a small sigh. Jane twisted her body around and grabbed Maura's hands in hers. The medical examiner's stare was focused on the floor. The detective felt a little confused at Maura's poor response.

"Maura," Jane said. "Maura, look at me. I just want you to know that I'm here for you, you know that right?"

"Stop it," Maura whispered as she pulled her hands out of Jane's. "Please – just _stop_ it."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Exams, small chapter.

Agent Mark Fallon walked into the bullpen, his blonde hair framing his stern face. He moved around until he reached the blackboard where all the information was pinned.

"We have to assume Bai wasn't acting alone. Where are we on his wife and cousin?"

Cavanaugh joined to stand next to him and looked at the blackboard as well. "She's on her way in. According to her neighbor, Xiu went out drinking. We're trying to track him." He made a small movement towards Frost who was looking rather confused at his screen. Mark Fallon eyed him shortly and Cavanaugh swore he saw him roll his eyes quickly.

"Bai either had the nuclear material for himself, or he was holding onto it for someone." The agent shifted his weight from his one leg to another before twisting his body towards Frost. "Either way, odds that's what got him killed. Check his phone records against the terror watch list."

Cavanaugh coughed loudly when Frost sent them a confused look.

"We're already doing that. Excuse me."

Agent Mark Fallon shifted his attention back towards Cavanaugh. The awkward atmosphere couldn't go unnoticed.

"Just so I'm clear, are you taking over?" Cavanaugh inquired.

"This is your case," Agent Mark Fallon replied curtly. "I'm just here to lend support however I can."

"Yo Cap," Frost shouted from behind his computer. "IC just sent all the immigration papers for Bai Lee. He got a degree in electrical engineering from a school in Beijing."

"What was he working on in China?" Agent Mark Fallon asked as he looked at the blackboard. Korsak walked into the bullpen at that very moment and joined the group standing at the blackboard.

"I got that one. I just spoke with the state department. They debriefed him when he first landed here. They say he was working on weapons program for the North-Koreans."

"Nuclear weapons?" Cavanaugh asked.

"Yeah."

Agent Mark Fallon walked towards the exit of the bullpen as he raised his voice for his announcement. "Okay, now I'm taking over."

* * *

There was an uneasy atmosphere between Jane and Maura. After Maura had lashed out at Jane, they decided it would be best to sit in silence. Jane played with her hands nervously as she tapped her one foot in an uneven rhythm. Every two minutes she shot Maura a quick glance. The blonde woman was still holding herself collected as ever and even though she was probably lost in thoughts, it looked like she was just still staring in front of her.

"Maura," Jane mumbled quietly. "It's a bomb, isn't it? It's a nuclear bomb in that locker. Is that why you are so quiet?"

And then finally, there was movement in the blonde's frame. Maura shifted her gaze towards Jane, the clouds still visible in her eyes. Jane saw it for a second before the clouds were blinked away.

"Jane," she replied soft as ever, trying to hide the panicked tune. "We don't know if it's a bomb. You're overreacting because I snapped at you."

"Well, we will as soon as it goes off in that nanosecond before we're vaporized." Jane grunted as she moved a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry – I'm just trying to lift the mood."

"Can't we just talk about something else?" Maura pushed back. Her desperation to change the subject would be the only piece of fear that she would show Jane. She wouldn't show her panic to the detective.

"Okay."

"What are you going to do with Casey?" The scientist asked Jane. They both knew that this question was coming. Both of them were the best at building walls around them and even though they were each other's best friends – even they had walls between them.

"Good question." Jane replied. "He's in Afghanistan and just got confirmed for another mission."

"How long?"

Jane shrugged as she mouthed that she doesn't know. She wondered if it was positive or negative thing that he was staying away longer.

"It's so funny, Maura," Jane whispered. She shifted her gaze towards the floor as she thought about the right words that were suited for what she wanted to say.

"You know, at first I loved that he was so busy."

Maura shifted uncomfortably beside her as she her friend used the word love. She had always wanted Jane to find love, to be happy. But in this case the word love meant abandoning and she was afraid. Luckily Jane couldn't see the fearful features on her face.

"It's just, it gave me an opportunity to keep one foot out the door - just in case." Jane finished poorly as she looked with a sheepish smile towards Maura. The doctor released a breath she didn't realize she had been holding.

"But with one foot out the door – it's hard to know where you stand, Jane."

Maura wondered if she wasn't lying. She knew pretty well where Jane was standing. Perhaps the detective couldn't see it herself but she was trying to find reasons to stay with Casey, she decided.

"And even if I did – I mean – what does it mean?" Jane wondered. "He's out there – he's saving people. Just, how do you even compete with that?"

The doctor beside her thought about it for a while. Wasn't Jane saving lives as well? But that wasn't the answer that Jane was looking for, Maura knew.

"You can't," she replied eventually. "No one can."

' _Liar_ ,' she thought to herself. ' _I wish I had a mirror to hold it under your face right now, Jane. I wish you could see just how much Casey doesn't deserve you. He treats you so poorly.'_

"And that's one of the things that attracted me to him the most. That passion, that drive." Jane thought aloud and then turned her gaze at Maura. "Why is it that the thing that attracts you to a person always ends up being that thing that just drives you crazy? I just wish that it –" She paused for a moment as she pondered about her words. "I wish that I had someone who would be there for me and I could be there for them and we could just.. dive in to it together, you know?" She shot Maura another weak smile.

Maura was a bit taken aback by the sudden honesty from her friend. She knew exactly what Jane was talking about. In the few cases where she had fallen in love – she had fallen in love with everything about them. But in the end, the most special thing that defined _Maura_ , drove people away. And she knew that in Jane's case it could be pretty much the same as well – and that's why Jane was beating herself up about it. She knew how much it hurt and that's why she didn't want to do the same thing to Casey.

"I know," she said after a few moments of silence. Maura knew that what she was about to say could be so damaging for their friendship. But Jane was her best friend and needed to hear the truth. Maura knew that Jane knew this truth but Maura also knew that Jane wouldn't act until someone told her.

"But holding onto someone like that, that isn't love."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still exams, another small one.

* * *

After their conversation, Maura returned to her own musings. She had often wondered if she was selfish for hoping that Jane would stay. That she wouldn't go to Afghanistan with a man who she had first deemed as the love of her life. The medical examiner had been lonely for such a long time until her best friend had shown up in her life. Lonely Friday evenings became movie nights and lonely Saturday nights turned into _random restaurant_ nights. Evenings where Maura had silently cried herself to sleep made place for dialogues. Maura never had to spend another Christmas Eve alone. She had found her _family._

Was it really selfish that she wanted to keep that?

Was it the same for Jane? She assumed not. Jane has had that loving family all her life. Sure, Angela probably bothered her more than enough, but Jane loved her. She knew. Maura had been jealous of the loving family but as she got to know them more, she realized that even Jane's family had their issues. Nonetheless, they had accepted her as part of the family, as if she had always been there. And Maura was eternally grateful for that.

Jane had not only given her the friendship she had wished for, but also a family. She had given her happiness.

' _Ah, so cheesy, Maura,'_ she thought to herself. ' _If Jane could hear your thoughts right now she'd frown at you.'_

The medical examiner smiled softly, barely noticeable. Sure, Jane would frown – but she would throw her an appreciative smile as well and eventually resort to making puking sounds. Perhaps she would even throw in a ' _Maura, I'm becoming lactose intolerant because of you'_ – or another one-liner that would make Maura smile without a doubt. Jane would never judge her.

She noted how Jane was scrunching her nose and massaging her forehead. Maura knew that she was still having headaches from her cold. She made a mental note to herself to lecture Jane about taking care of herself when she was sick. The detective never stopped, no matter how sick she was.

"You're free to go."

Maura jumped up at the sudden voice from the hazmat specialist who had entered the room. She shot him a quick confused look. There was no way with those amounts of radiation that they could just _leave._

"We are? What about the radiation?"

"We found residual traces of Cobalt 60 in the storage unit. Not enough to cause any health problems."

Maura sighed, unsure it if was a sigh out of annoyance or relief. Jane immediately got to her feet and dragged Maura by her wrist to the door. Maura could see the frustration on Jane's features. And she knew that she didn't have to say anything.

* * *

When they left the quarantined area, they were met by Korsak. He was leaning against the doorframe, his arms firmly crossed in front of his chest. When he noticed the two women walking towards them, he launched a smile at them.

"Jane, Maura – we're all glad you two are okay."

Jane didn't have to ask but she knew that Korsak had worried. Jane knew that if it came to that point, he would give his life for her. She made a mental note to appreciate him a little more.

"Thank you Korsak," Maura replied due to the lack of response from Jane. "So are we. I'm confused though, is this just a false alarm?"

"Not exactly, if you're up to it – we could really use you both at the precinct. I can fill you in on the way."

They both nodded and the three started to walk forward towards Korsak's car. Jane glimpsed over at Maura, who was lost in thought already. Jane beamed at the sight of it – it was just so typically _Maura._ It was so typically Maura to disappear into her thoughts when the case didn't make sense.

"Those traces of Cobalt 60, where did they come from?" Jane eventually asked, snapping her attention back to the conversation.

"We think there was a second crate at the storage unit which contained large quantities of Cobalt 60." Korsak said. "We found wire and crimp on connectors, which leads us to believe the crate was outfitted with explosives."

Maura gasped lightly. The thought of it being a bomb had crossed her mind just expeditiously.

"A bomb?"

"A dirty bomb." Korsak affirmed.

"Where is it now?" Jane queried. She had to call her mother to get out of the city as quickly as possible. She gazed over to Maura who was looking tense, couldn't she tell Maura to go and get out as well? She wanted Maura to be safe.

"That's what we're trying to find out."

* * *

Jane and Maura entered Maura's house where Angela was preparing food in the kitchen. The two were in the middle of a conversation when Angela perked up at the sight of the two.

"Hey girls," she said in her typical Angela tone. "Finished so soon?"

Angela loved the sight of the two girls. Her own daughter and then her daughter's best friend, who she treated as her own daughter. In the end, she was living in Maura's house. She was grateful for Maura, not only for the house but also because of the way her own daughter had lowered her walls. Jane was happier and had gained confidence.

"We're still going," Jane muttered. The cold from sitting in the quarantined area had made her illness worse again. Jane really hated being sick. It just slowed her down in everything she wanted to do.

"We just came back for a shower and a change of clothes."

The thought of a hot shower felt like heaven to Jane. She couldn't wait to go upstairs towards the bathroom and take a fifteen minute breather for herself.

"Oh okay," Angela replied with a smile. "Don't worry about me girls, I'm going out tonight as well."

"Mom," Jane interrupted her quickly. She wanted her mother to leave Boston with the bomb danger. She thought of places where she could send her mother to. Realizing she actually didn't know anyone, she decided to suggest her old babysitter.

"Can't you – go visit – you know, Sandra?"

"What's gotten into you? I haven't spoken with Sandra in years."

"Really?" Jane looked confused, earning a small shove from Maura. Maura knew exactly what Jane was trying to do. Maura too wanted Angela to be safe but Jane wasn't going about it very subtletly. "I just think it's important that you keep your friendships, you know?"

"A—I guess she did send me an email a while ago.." Angela hesitated. Jane could see the confusion in her eyes and used a charming smile to convince her mother.

"Go, mom! Really – it'll be so good for you!"

Angela took off her apron and walked over to the stairs. When she reached the staircase, she threw another confused stare at her daughter. Jane was embracing her own body as Maura lightly touched Jane's arm. She could see the worry in both their eyes and she suddenly _knew_ that she didn't have to ask any questions anymore. Jane rarely had that look in her eyes so it must be something really important.

"I won't tell." She said rather loudly from the staircase.

"What?"

"I don't know what you're not telling me," Angela said as she walked up the stairs. "But I won't tell that the best cop in Boston is worried about something. I won't tell."

Maura gave Jane a soft smile. Jane was Angela's daughter after all. Of course she would see through Jane's blatant excuse.

"Huh, I guess I wasn't subtle enough." Jane muttered as she sat down on a stool near the counter. She softly massaged her forehead with her two thumbs, her elbows leaning on the counter. Maura observed her friend, Jane needed some sleep, she decided.

"You were as subtle as ever," Maura replied with a laugh. "Which was totally not subtle at all." There were a few seconds of silence. "You did well, Jane. Try to take care of yourself too, okay?"

"Yeah, sure, I'll take care of myself." She grunted. "Once I know that bastard is found, taken in custody and that I will know for sure that you will be safe. Because I can't protect you from that dirty bomb. I can't tell you to stay home or to go away. I can only keep working faster so this case will be over sooner.."

"It's not your job to keep me safe, Jane.."

"The hell it is, Maura. I care about you – I want you to be safe. "

Maura moved forward and touched Jane's arm softly again. Jane's gaze shifted towards Maura's eyes. The medical examiner saw the sadness in Jane's eyes and gave her another soft smile. _'Oh Jane,'_ she thought. ' _What did I do to deserve you?'_

"Well then," she replied upbeat. "Let's hurry to catch him! So I can put my little _Janey_ to bed."

Jane growled lowly as she stood up. Maura laughed loudly and pushed Jane's back to motion her forward. Jane stopped in her tracks and turned around once more to glare at the medical examiner.

"Not your _Janey.'_

Maura's laughter filled the room.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small one, exams.

Jane and Maura re-entered the bullpen shortly after. They had said their goodbye's to Angela as she left for her friend Sandra. Maura didn't feel comfortable lying to her best friend's mother, but she knew it had to be done to keep Angela safe.

The medical examiner eyed Jane curiously. A frown was visible on the detective's forehead. Jane only had this frown on her forehead when she was twisting her brains about something she'd rather not think about. What was it? Maura wondered.

"A penny for your thoughts?"

Jane hit the elevator button and twisted her body to rest against the cold wall. Maura noticed how her best friend had decided to wear the olive green V-neck that Maura still had to iron. It was one of the shirts that Jane kept in her best friend's closet if she unexpectedly stayed over. It looked good on the detective, complementing her Italian skin tone. Combined with her raven black curls, it turned the rather simple outfit into one of Jane's best outfits, Maura decided.

"Just thinking about the case."

"Ah."

A comfortable silence developed between the two. Maura knew her friend well enough to not push the subject. For anyone but them, the situation would have looked awkward, but for the both of them, it was a peaceful silence. A loud _ding!_ demanded their attention and they set foot in the elevator in silence. The machine slowly went up and the medical examiner acknowledged their last moment of privacy. She didn't know what would happen with this bomb and if this could possibly be the last time she could stand here with her best friend like that, she wanted to treasure the moment. She walked over to her friend and put a soothing hand on her shoulder for a few seconds and eventually withdrew it. A thankful smile surfaced on Jane's features.

When the doors opened, they could already hear Cavanaugh speaking to the entire team. His loud voice filled the entire room. They advanced forward to where everyone was standing, receiving welcoming smiles from Frost and Korsak.

"Due to the nature of this case, let me remind you not to discuss it with anyone. Not even family."

Jane detected the look of sympathy on Frankie's face from the other side of the room. If this case ended bad, she hoped that their mother would only lose one child at best.

"We can't afford to have word lead out and cause a panic," Cavanaugh continued. "But, let me turn this over to Agent Fallon." He gestured to the man standing next to him.

"Thank you, Captain." Agent Fallon replied. "Alright folks, here's what we know. Bai Lee built a bomb in a storage unit C412. It's a dirty bomb, designed to explode and disburse a highly radioactive Cobalt 60. That bomb," he paused for a second to attract everyone's attention. "is missing."

Noises of whisper filled the room.

"Okay team," he continued. "I want you to interview the facility employees. Check surveillance video's, you know the drill. We find the person who moved the bomb, we'll find where it is. Let's get on it."

With that, he broke up the meeting and everyone returned to their desks, Maura accompanying Jane to hers.

"Doctor Isles," Agent Fallon's voice resonated from behind her. "I'd like to thank you for your fine work on this case. However, I think you might be more useful in the morgue, no?"

"What are you implying, Agent Fallon?" Maura asked, raising her eyebrow.

"It's for your own protection, Doctor Isles." Fallon said and Maura knew he wouldn't budge, so she slowly gathered her stuff but she was interrupted when Jane stood up. The detective put her hands on the sides of her desk as she rested her bodyweight on her long arms.

"I need her here," the detective said. "Maura has great insights on cases like this. She stays."

There was a short deadstare battle between the two.

"Okay then," Fallon said curtly. "Just try to stay out of the way."

Fallon left Jane's desk and went over to Frankie to brief him on the assignment. Jane let her body fall back into her chair and pulled the chair from behind her, next to her. When Maura didn't act immediately, Jane waved her hand in front of Maura's face. The medical examiner then quickly realized the chair was for her and quickly seated herself.

"He doesn't trust me." Maura said quietly, she wasn't used to being treated this way in the bullpen.

"Or anyone else," Jane covered Maura's hand with her own to reassure her. "Nature of the job, it's nothing personal."

Jane had also preferred to keep Maura away from the case, just to be sure that she would be safe. But she knew Maura and she knew the medical examiner wouldn't be able to leave the case alone. So if Maura couldn't stay away, Jane had to keep Maura close to her to keep her safe.

* * *

Maura felt her heart break a little at the sight of Sie Lee tending her baby in interrogation. Jane and Fallon were going to interview her once again. Although everyone knew that Sie had nothing to do with it, she might still be able to give some useful information. She felt bad for the woman, with such a young baby and a dead husband. Maura was suddenly reminded why she preferred the dead bodies in her morgue, she never had to deal with the pain of the ones still alive.

"Bai's wife," Agent Mark Fallon asked Jane. Maura hadn't noticed them standing next to her. "How did she seem during the first interview?"

"Like a woman who had just lost her husband." Jane replied, almost angrily. She crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Did she appear truthful?"

"Yeah," Jane nodded. "Otherwise we wouldn't be standing here right now."

"I'm going to want you in there with me, okay?" Fallon said. "I think it's important she sees a friendly face. If I go over the line, you just reel me back in. That's a nice touch."

Maura noticed how her friend's face was just turning angrier at what the agent said. She almost spoke up about it but then quickly decided against it.

"What?" Jane replied in a snappy way.

"The baby."

* * *

After a few more minutes, the duo entered the interrogation room as Maura watched them. The medical examiner embraced herself with one arm as she observed the two sitting down in front of the young mother. The woman still had the same worry on her features as she did the first time she saw her. But there was something else present now. Maura was able to spot the heartbreak on the woman's face as well. The puffy eyes, the chapped lips. But as much as she wanted to, Maura knew she couldn't relate. She had never lost someone who she loved to a murder.

But Maura did know the pain and the fear of not knowing, oh she _knew._ The medical examiner thought about the moment when Jane took the bullet, making the ultimate sacrifice. Those moments, not knowing if Jane had been alright or if she had even been alive – they had almost driven her insane. _God_ , she had been torn between hating and loving Jane at that time. But Maura knew that Jane made these sacrifices because she was _Jane_ and Maura couldn't dislike anything about it. Those sacrifices and the actions she does to protect people, all of it is what makes Jane, _Jane._

And then Maura wasn't thinking about Hoyt yet. The memory of Jane being strangled by Hoyt and Maura being unable to do anything at all, it had pained her so much. Jane was in so much pain and all she could do was _watch_ and yell. She had never felt so useless and weak as in that very moment. She often thought back about it, the way Jane had screamed in fear and anger when they had tried to touch Maura, how often the sound of it resonated in her nightmares. They had almost died together back then but Jane had protected them, _her._

Those were the things that people couldn't see when they walked beside each other, engulfed in their own world as they spoke. The memories that created the comfortable silences but would appear as awkward silences to other people. Those were the things that they were reminded of when little, subtle touches or looks that were exchanged between them. They both knew that no one would understand, but granted – neither of them cared. Their own world was enough, for the both of them.

Maura knew the pain and fear that the woman was experiencing right now and she wanted to tell her it would all be okay. But the medical examiner knew that was a lie. In all of their stories, they came out alive. Scratched and scarred, but alive. She had been able to embrace her best friend in her arms afterwards, even if it sometimes was _barely_. But this woman had lost almost everything. She had lost the love of her life and the father to her child.

How could she possibly relate to that?


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (02.03.17) I received the kindest review ever. I just would like you to remind you that it hasn't ended yet. This chapter is once again.. small. Uni is killing me and I'm honestly trying to stay alive, breathing between the groupworks. Good news, I passed all my exams. Bad news, 2nd semester is worse and I started a new SwanQueen fic.
> 
> I wrote this in one go on the train - I'll update quicker, but the updates will be shorter. I hope that's not an issue - if it's, let me know through a review and I'll reconsider. It'll take a bit longer though.
> 
> Enjoy my readers.  
> Thank you for the continious support that this story has received.  
> I will finish this story for you.
> 
> Have a lovely 2017.

 

* * *

Jane went into the interrogation room with Agent Fallon hot on her feet. The woman looked worn out, as if she had been crying for days now. She felt bad for the woman, especially with the man behind her – as she felt his temper weigh down on the atmosphere of the room.

"Sie, this is Agent Fallon." Jane said as she sat herself down on the chair. She waved her hand in the direction of the special agent as he went on to seat himself as well. The woman barely made eye contact with Fallon because her gaze was trained on her baby.

"Do you have news about Bai's case?" Her voice was barely audible and sounded like she could be broken any moment. When she noticed the lack of response, her gaze met up to finally meet Agent Fallon's eyes and Jane thought she could see the woman shudder at the eye contact.

"As a matter of fact, I do." The special agent replied and the woman's eyes grew big and Jane felt a pang in her heart – the woman was so full of hope.

* * *

Maura stopped watching the duo and went back to join Korsak and Frost. The two were huddled together, frowning over a piece of paper. She knew she didn't have to announce her presence because her heels would do that for her. Maura took in the sight of the two men whispering things to each other.

"What is it?" she asked, finally, when she couldn't take the anticipation any longer. Frost grabbed the paper where Korsak had just highlightened a large sum of money and shoved it underneath Maura's face.

"That $10.000 was wired into Bai's account." Maura's face lit up at the information. Sure, her place was in the morgue but even she knew that money being transferred into an account left traces, which meant they could find it.

"Which means it can be traced!" She clapped her hands together. Maura wanted this case done so that Jane could finally get some rest, because her friend needed it – badly. She worried over her brunette friend and hated that she couldn't do anything about it.

"I'll pull up the track fund database and put in the routing and account numbers." Korsak said and walked over to his desk to pull up the information. They all waited in silence as Korsak typed when suddenly Frost let out a soft yelp.

"Whoa," he said in disbelief as he was looking at his screen. "Just downloaded footage of unit C412 for the last 48 hours. Hopefully that's when somebody stopped by."

"And a terrorist who'd believe it?" Korsak muttered.

"Think back." Frost replied, knitting his eyebrows together.

"That's my point, it's been done."

"Which means it's tried and true."

"Not this time."

"Maybe it's not what we think?" Maura offered, suddenly standing up from her kneeled position to read Korsak's computer screen. "That $10.000 was wired in, from a bank in Honolulu, Hawaii from a James Smith which is the most common name in America, it's probably bogus."

"There's a major Asian population in Honolulu." Cavanaugh said from a side of the room as he had been listening in on the conversation.

"Four minutes before it was transferred out, it was transferred in from James Smith, Texas Southern Bank." Frost said as he read the records on Korsak's screen.

"Whoever sent that ten grand covered his tracks by daisy-chaining the money through different banks." Cavanaugh sighed and a moment of silence returned to the precinct.

"Didn't cover them that well if I can follow them." Frost voice interrupted the silence and some hopeful looks were thrown his way as he started to type on his computer.

"I'll bet Bai's wife could shed some light," Cavanaugh groaned. "And I hope that Fallon's going all Jack Bauer on her ass."

"Maybe she didn't know." Maura replied hastily. She was sure that the wife was innocent and the thought of her being put through more misery broke her heart.

"They were together, Maura." Korsak finally said as everyone stayed quiet for a little while. "Could you be a terrorist without Jane knowing?"

And Maura had to think – not sure about what Korsak was implying – but could she? She had to agree with Korsak, if she had been a terrorist – Jane would surely have known. Their lives were just so woven into each other. There was no way that she could've hidden that kind of information from her.

* * *

"Bai was not a terrorist," The wife said firmly, her eyes still trained on her baby. "He loved this country!" Her voice started to sound a little desperate now, her voice going higher at the end of the sentences.

"And yet he was in possession of-" Jane tried to say, still gently because she genuinely felt bad for the wife, but she was rudely interrupted by Agent Fallon.

"Where's the bomb, Ms. Lee?"

"I told you!" Sie cried and her tears started to flow down her cheeks. "I know nothing about a bomb! Bai would _never_ do such a thing. Why would he?!"

"He needed the cash," Agent Fallon replied – almost smugly. "That baby of yours is a money pit. The bills started piling up, he got in bed with the wrong people – I need you tell me who they were."

The woman in front of them sobbed fiercely and she protected herself by wrapping an arm around her middle.

"I swear to you!" she cried out loud. "I don't know!"

Jane was almost about to comfort the woman and tell it was _okay_ and that they believed her when Agent Fallon smacked his hands down onto the table. The awful cries of the baby filled the room and Jane wondered if her heart could physically feel pain because something in her heart was stinging.

"How can you not know the man you're sharing a bed with is a terrorist?! You're a part of it!" Agent Fallon barked loudly and Jane felt the stinging in her heart increase. Sie must've felt her discomfort because she searched for Jane's eyes with her own and the detective could see the despair in her eyes.

"I have nothing to hide!" Sie cried out and she clutched her baby close to her chest. She rocked the baby back and forth – as if she was trying to calm it.

"But you do!" Agent Fallon snarled as he slammed his hands once more down onto the table, leaning forward. "And I'm going to find it. And when I do, I'm gonna lock you up as a material witness and send that baby off to foster care."

"No!" Sie panicked. "You can't do that."

"Oh, yes, I can." The special agent replied smugly. "Watch me."

Jane had watched the entire interaction with huge eyes. She didn't agree with how this special agent was taking care of this conversation and decided that it was her cue to step in.

"Sir," She stood up in a swift moment. "Can I talk to you?"

Her intense gaze met with Agent Fallon's one and they battled for authority and when she was about to open her mouth to protest, she was overruled by Fallon.

"No," he said and turned his head back to face Sie. "Go ahead, kiss your daughter goodbye."

"Please!" The woman pleaded.

"Social services is right outside that door."

"Please!" She cried once again. "Please, why are you doing this?"

"I'm gonna give you one more chance to be honest with me, or I will take your baby away and you will never see it again!" He said sternly and Jane felt frozen. She wanted to open her mouth but she felt like the consequences would be too heavy.

"I swear!" She cried back.

"Do you understand?" His tone was deep and filled the room with an eery atmosphere.

"I swear to you!" Sie's tears were rolling down her cheeks as she kept on clutching the baby close to her."I don't know! I don't know anything. Please don't take her away from me; she's the only thing I have! Please! Please!"

"Agent Fallon—" Jane said, her tone stern and she was about to smack her own hands down on the table.

"Alright," Agent Fallon straightened his back and fixed his tie as if it were crooked. He shot Jane an annoyed glare to indicate he wasn't pleased with her. "Nobody's going to take your baby away from you."

Jane reached for the box of tissues they had in the corner of the room and handed them to Sie. The woman accepted them with a soft smile.

"Here it's okay," she said, her voice hoarse. "He's in a tight spot and he just has to be sure you're telling the truth. Agent Garda will drive you home, come on. Let's go home."

Once the woman had left the interrogation room, Jane pinned him with a glare. She was about to yell at him, asking him why he had to be so rude to the woman and threatening with taking her kid away.

"Detective Rizzoli," Agent Fallon began, noticing the angry looks Jane was throwing him. "You still think she's truthful? I just want your opinion. Truthful or no?"

"Yes," Jane hissed. "But I still have to operate under the assumption that she's lying." She hated this, she always had a good sense of justice in her heart and she just felt that this woman was innocent.

"While she was in here," Agent Fallon reached for the doorknob. "I pulled a national security certificate. Her house has just been bugged. She'll be under surveillance 24/7. If she's hiding something, we'll find it. It's important that she believes I think she's telling the truth. You did good. She considers you an ally. That could be helpful later. Thanks for playing, Detective Rizzoli."

He left and Jane just felt all the anger inside her rise to a boiling point. She waited until Fallon left the hall before she took a tight grab of the doorknob, opened it and slammed it closed with a loud _slam!_

"A good ally?" She whispered angrily to herself. Did he really think that her caring for the woman was an act? The woman had looked so terrified and all Jane could do was stand there, wishing she could've done something.

* * *

 

Jane hadn't realized where her feet were taking her when she suddenly stood in front of the morgue. She pushed the doors open with both her hands, causing Maura to jump in surprise. Her tired eyes connected with Jane's angry ones.

"Jane?" she asked tentatively – almost scared to even ask. "What happened?"

"Ugh! Just that Fallon guy – he stresses me out." Jane walked forward into the morgue and sat down on one of the chairs and ran her hands through her hair. Maura lifted one eyebrow curiously and paused her work to take a seat next to her.

"I hate being unable to help," Jane muttered when she realized Maura wasn't going to say anything until she spoke up. "I hate feeling useless."

"You're not, Jane—" Maura said, covering Jane's hand with her own. "This case is just dragging you down. Did the interrogation go that awful?"

"I don't know." The brunette sighed after a few seconds. She lifted her head to look into Maura's eyes once again. "She says she's telling the truth and I honestly believe her." She looked down at their hands and squeezed Maura's fingers quickly and then retracted them.

"Do you think it's possible for her to not know her husband was a terrorist?" Maura asked, breaking the silence.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because," Maura had to stifle a laugh, her blonde hair bouncing on her shoulders. "Korsak asked me if I would've known if you were a terrorist. Then I realized that there wasn't a way that I wouldn't have known. If that's the case for us, imagine being married to that person then.."

"Did Korsak _really_ compare you and me to a dead terrorist and his wife?" Jane lifted one eyebrow and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Oh _honey,_ " Maura singsonged, laughing  and fake-flipped her hair back. "I made that lasagna that you like so much. Can you bring back a bottle of wine?"

Jane frowned.

"You _are_ aware that this is something you texted me last month?"

"Yes," Maura laughed once again. "I was just trying to prove my point."


End file.
